BIODIVERSITY
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Setophaga coronata
Photo Credit: Alan Sparkman
From late Fall to early Spring, it can sometimes seem as if the yellow-rumped warbler is the most common bird on campus. They seem to be everywhere, flying quickly past with a bright chirp, taking a bath in the pond, fluttering in the sumac eating seeds....Once you start to see them, you'll never stop.
MARGARET TAYLOR
Yellow-rumped Warbler
In the dead of winter, there they are,
butterbuts each a fallen star
against dry grass, across the paths
back and forth, they always play,
voices echoing through the day,
chasing and chanting every way,
flicking their tails, never running out of things to say.
Just two kinds, one paler, bolder,
both are present as it gets colder.
One yellow crest,
one golden breast–
but below,
ebony and snow,
Under all their wings are marbled
each kind distinct but often garbled
into one on their flights together,
rain or shine or any weather.